BEOWULF READING GUIDE
Beowulf Reading Schedule
Pages; Lines
________3-87;
1-1231
________88-213; 1231-3182
Characters (be able to identify, label, and be fluent
with these characters)
Beowulf
Breca
Hygelac
Hygd
The theif
Wiglaf
Hrothgar
Wealtheow
Unferth
3 Kingdoms

How do the kings and warriors mentioned in
passing (and to a lesser degree the descriptions of
God) reflect the A-S ideal of a hero and good king?
How do Hrothgar and Beowulf?

What is the purpose of the two poems within the
poem (Sigemund and the dragon (lines 883-914)
and the Finnsburg conflict between
the Danes and the Frisians (lines 1070-1158)?


How is the dragon different from the other threats
Beowulf faces?

Pay special attention to Beowulf’s speeches,
particularly his dying speech.
Danes (Shieldings)
Geats
Swedes
3 Locations
Heorot—“the barricaded night-house”
The mere (lake)—“the infested underwater current”
The barrow—“reptile-haunted rocks of a wilderness”
3 agons (conflicts) with 3 Monsters
Grendel
Grendel’s Mother
The dragon (wyrm)
Mythological and Biblical Allusions





Cain and Abel
Track all other Biblical allusions
Sigemund (search “Sigmund” in Wikipedia)
King Heremod (search in Wikipedia)
Queen Modthryth (search in Wikipedia)
Archetypes
Pay attention to the archetypal meanings (and their inverse)
of these: light and dark, hero and monster, water, magic
weapons, youth and age, journeys, traveling companions,
good and evil, etc.
General Questions
(think about while reading and complete after)

The poem is a record of Beowulf’s deeds and to a
lesser degree and by association those of his
companions. How does their introduction in the
poem emphasize the positive tone? Consider their
words, the narrator’s description, the reaction of
other characters, etc.

Track how Beowulf declares his own greatness and
to whom. Is it boasting and bragging? Is it wrong?
(Remember this is not a 21st century story.)

How do Beowulf and the other characters embody
the ideal of what is good in Anglo-Saxon culture?
What can you conclude the A-S’s would regard as
good traits in a king?

How is each of the monsters anathema to the A-S
culture?

How does the speaker’s Christian perspective
affect this pagan story?
Anglo-Saxon Terms

















Comitatus
Scop
Wyrd
Weregild
Significance of torques, rings, gold, and feasts
Funeral pyre
Barrow
Literary Terms
Wyrd
Kennings
Alliterative verse
Cesura
Epic
In media res
Litotes
Metonymy
Synecdoche